Long-ago

That optimistic baby had come on so like the private eye in any long-ago radio drama, believing all you needed was grit, resourcefulness, exemption from hidebound cops' rules, to solve any great mystery.

Fortunately, their nicknames give them away: All are figures associated with the Mafia, that fetishistically documented secret society responsible for long-ago crime waves, more recent cinematic masterpieces and, above all, an enduring modern marketing bonanza.

She remembered a long-ago dinner they shared at Chasen's, one of Hollywood's most clubbish and exclusive restaurant […]

The answer, according to James Moore, who as minister of Canadian heritage is in charge of the campaign, is that the government simply wants the long-ago war, which few Canadians know well, to be remembered.

Long-ago stonecrafters had carefully carved a set of steps that led to nothing, save a striking vista.

As a teen, I remember going to 70s-themed discos in outrageous flared trousers bought from charity shops and feeling that it was a distant historical era. But now I realise there’s a pile of Gen-Zedders who feel the same way about the 90s and are no doubt making fun of my music taste and long-ago penchant for combat trousers, friendship bracelets and straightening my hair to within an inch of its life like the Appleton sisters did.

The big gun rights case the Supreme Court is set to hear on Tuesday presents the justices with a tricky problem. They must start to clear up the confusion they created last year in a landmark decision that revolutionized Second Amendment law by saying that long-ago historical practices are all that matter in assessing challenges to gun laws. That standard has left lower courts in turmoil as they struggle to hunt down references to obscure or since-forgotten regulations.

He cast his time into the long-ago, because already the long-ago had a special poetical attraction.